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Spaulding Smails

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Everything posted by Spaulding Smails

  1. So, I'm about due to replace the tires on my F350. I was originally thinking of adding a leveling kit, but now reconsidering. My truck actually fits in my garage, which I love. I have a headache rack, and I'm right at 7'3" with stock tires (34" Michelin 275/65R20) and no lift. I have 7'8" of clearance when my garage door is open. So, I realistically have 4+" to play with. I'd like the truck to sit a bit higher, and I like the look of larger tires without doing anything crazy. Not a fan of wide tires, so I want to keep them inside the wheel well. I'm fine with the stock rims, but would change out if necessary. I'm thinking of going with 38" all-terrains to start and see how that looks. Will they fit without a lift? Should I consider swapping out rims? My plan would be to see how they look and ride, check clearance in my garage, then maybe add a 1.5" leveling kit if my maths work. Thoughts?
  2. I don't know if they work on individual vehicles, but I've always taken my diesel trucks to Johnson's Fleet. They're near the airport. 512-389-2121. Give them a call and see if they'll work on it. If not, I bet they can point you in the right direction.
  3. Yep. We have an 8'x8' walk-in. Actually just welded up the A-frame inside it last week.
  4. Regarding our "axis problem", I need to make a bit more room in the deep freeze at home, but definitely planning on whacking a few before WT season kicks off.
  5. We've noticed the same thing. When they come in to the feeders, the whitetail bail. We seem to have a ton of smaller axis bucks this year. Seems like the axis are way more nomadic than the whitetail. They'll be there for a week, then disappear for a few weeks before we see them again. My dad and I built this little alfalfa rack near the house to sit on the porch to watch deer. My mom took this pic with her telephoto lens. Believe it or not, it's about 80 yds from the house. And that pic was taken after dusk.
  6. I finally finished up all the landscaping on my backyard project, so now I'm shifting my focus back to the pit. Got the frames welded up and installed this weekend. Need to measure for doors so I can get those sent off to get cut. Hoping to have them back in two weeks so I can install the second weekend in July.
  7. Been getting some decent pics from our place over the last few weeks. Starting to see some nontypical points on a few deer. I really think that protein feeding is helping. The genetics kind of suck out here, but the deer are healthy. I'm hoping we get a decent whitetail in the next few years for my son to shoot. Anyone have any experience aging axis? I feel like I'm decent at aging whitetail on the hoof. No experience with axis. This one seems pretty young. Maybe 2-1/2?
  8. I'm late to the game, but I was going to suggest buying this to drill out the table leg. To make sure it's perfectly straight and whatnot. https://www.elitemetaltools.com/tool-shop/products/jet-egh-2180-elite-21x80-large-spindle-bore-clutch-lathe-892250?sku=892250&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8aGj3uCp6gIVDtvACh1_bwK3EAQYASABEgIp0fD_BwE
  9. Ahhhh. Yep. I stand corrected.
  10. That is bad ass. Send more detail pics when you get a chance. One question: Is that handle for the firebox baffle supposed to be on the inside? Seems like that door is reversed.
  11. The Son, though not nonfiction, is a hell of a book. One of my all-time favorites. I just finished Empire of the Summer Moon as well, though I did that one on AudioBook. I love all things Larry McMurtry, especially the Lonesome Dove saga. I just finished The Last Kind Words Saloon. Not his best book, but a good, quick read. I started God Save Texas on a trip to Phoenix in January, but left the book in the hotel. I need to re-buy it so I can finish it. Back on the topic of nonfiction, I recently read The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country by Jefferson Morgenthaler. Though not a page-turner, it was a good read for someone with German roots in Central Texas. My great-great-great grandfather came over from Germany and settled near Brenham, and a lot of what is described in that book parallels my family's history and migration westward through the Hill Country. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in that stuff.
  12. Ooooh. Me likey. What brand?
  13. This is a touchy subject, and I totally get the multiple viewpoints. It's funny how vernacular can cause a tiff. We have a little under 300 acres in Kimble County. No livestock. Just hunting and generally messing around when we're out there. When talking to my kids or friends we call it "the ranch" as in "we may head out to the ranch this weekend". That's just how it started when we bought the place and it's stuck. When I'm talking to anyone else, I'm cognizant about not referring to it as a ranch. Because it isn't. There's no ranching happening out there. It's a fun place to hang out, shoot guns, look at the stars and have a campfire, but it's not a ranch.
  14. Did not get video. Typical 16 year old reaction. Tried to be a bad ass, then walked outside to "eat his breakfast on the porch" where I found that he threw his food in the trash. Would never admit that it was too hot. And yes, he needs his ass whipped. I took him kayak fishing yesterday morning. He swears he's a fishing pro. Throwing a baitcaster. He spent 75% of the time fighting backlashes. Then, when we loaded up the kayaks, he didn't follow my directions on where to put everything in the bed of the truck. Which resulted in my nice carbon fiber paddle falling out and getting run over by another vehicle. So, that was a $300 fishing kayak fishing trip. I have other stories on here about my BIL and his wife / step-kids. Unfortunately, this whole weekend was pretty much par for the course.
  15. My step-nephew is in town. 16 years old. Staying for a long weekend. He's an OK kid, but kind of an idiot (like most 16 year olds). For example, he drove up with his older brother yesterday from Houston and somehow ended up in Waco instead of Dripping Springs before he realized he wasn't following his GPS correctly. Well, he proceeded to shoot my wife in the arm with an air soft gun yesterday afternoon. Not an accident. Just wanted to get a rise out of her. I didn't find out about it until I got home from work. She said she would handle it, so I didn't confront him or intervene. He loves my wife's homemade blackberry jam. So much so, that he asked for it for Christmas and requested a jar to take home after this weekend. My wife is making eggs, sausage and biscuits for breakfast this morning. She had a bit of blackberry jam left in the jar that is currently in the fridge. She added a finely diced habanero to it last night. I'm waiting for a report on how her revenge is received. He hates all things spicy (to the point that he won't even eat bell peppers because they're too hot), so I fully anticipate a complete and total meltdown.
  16. Garrapatas is correct. Haven't heard that term in ages. My grandpa's old Mexican buddy we used to hunt with outside of Orange Grove would warn me and my cousin about them during dove season.
  17. $3,500 or so for the chiller. It runs on 230V 50A. PPE in Austin where I bought it told me the electricity cost would be about $20/week during the summer which seems about right. So, maybe a little less than running an additional AC unit. Probably comparable to a mini-split.
  18. Agreed. Don't go rot-gut, but no need to go super premium. Anything you'd put in a decent margarita is great in a ranch water. Silver seems to be better than gold / reposado / anejo for ranch water, IMO. Hornitos is great and easy to find. I've been using Tierra Noble and Tequia Ocho for my ranch water. Both are outstanding.
  19. https://www.pentair.com/en/products/pool-spa-equipment/pool-heaters/ultratemp_high_performanceheatpump.html Pentair UltraTemp 140 H/C
  20. Quick updates and a question or two. -The Pentair chiller was / is a great investment. Fired it up Monday afternoon for the first time. Pool temp was 87. Got it down to 82 by noon today. Actually so cool that my wife complained about the temp this afternoon. I was impressed that it could reduce the temp by 5 degrees in 2 days with 100+ temps. Adjusted the settings, and we'll keep it in a range from 85-57 now. -Pentair ScreenLogic, while a great concept and awesome when it works, is basically like using a dial-up modem. Holy crap. I had to buy a Wi-Fi extender with a Cat-5 port because this POS system is so antiquated. It rarely connects via WiFi and is slower than molasses. I now port in remotely, and it's a bit more reliable, but I'm still not very satisfied. Anyone have any insight on ScreenLogic? -We installed landscaping this week. I have two beds adjacent to the pool. Our pool cleaner scolded me for putting in mulch. Se said it's a huge no-no and can ruin my plaster. Anyone else heard this or had first-hand experience? Looks like we'll be putting in rocks instead, which I'm not a fan of...
  21. One of my employees drove down there two weekends ago with her husband and kids. She said they had a blast. I think they rented a cabana for the day, so they kind of had a home base where they could keep their stuff when they swam or did activities. They have camping and glamping options as well if you want to stay overnight. She said it was relatively family oriented and didn't get too rowdy. She said they only saw a little bit of mercury and cyanide coming out of CMC's discharge pipes into the river.
  22. Drumming and guitar for sure. I grew up with my dad's drum kit and guitar in the house. I realized early on that I'm incapable of anything musically related. I'd throw dancing into that category as well. Also auto / small engine repair. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and decent at carpentry, welding, etc, but I've just never really had a knack for turning wrenches.
  23. Yup. My little soiree a few months ago kind of motivated me to take advantage of that firebox for parrilla options.
  24. She doesn't live here full time, but has a house here.
  25. Hannah needs to check her sources. This wasn't a rat snake in Mueller. This was a blue indigo pulled that climbed out of the toilet near Beeville about three years ago. This was my buddy's family ranch house. He faced a rash of shit when that female deputy had to come save him. It crawled into the vanity and she was able to get it out from there.
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